No one destroys the world like director Roland Emmerich, and 2012 may very well be his masterpiece. Having wiped out humanity in Independence Day, Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow, the director pulls out all the stops with this apocalyptic vision of death from the heavens, as solar eruptions set in motion a series of events that result in the end of the world as we know it. Believe me, no one’s feeling fine after California slides off into the Pacific Ocean or an aircraft carrier ends up on the White House lawn.

In the best tradition of George Pal and Irwin Allen, filmmakers to whom Emmerich owes a huge debt, 2012 focuses on a small group of people representing a cross-section of humanity who come together to face unbelievable events. John Cusack is Jackson Curtis, a California author trying to hold his fractured family together, as Kate, his estranged wife (Amanda Peet), attempts to juggle her feelings for him and her new husband.

While important, this sort of problem is small potatoes, as government geologist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) has delivered the bad news that the earth’s core is overheating and that, at best, there’s two years to make plans to vacate. This prompts the President of the United States (Danny Glover) to attempt to bring together the civilized countries of the world to formalize a plan that would ensure the safety of 400,000 people as the clock ticks closer to Judgment Day.

The destruction begins at the 45minute mark and Emmerich barely lets us catch our breath as he throws his human props into harm’s way again and again. A willing slave to the technology he employs, the director gives us one magnificent scene of carnage after another. Parking garages and buildings collapse, the Eiffel Tower and Vatican City bite the dust and airplanes barely get airborne before the runways collapse beneath them. In Emmerich’s world, there’s no other kind of escape and while it does become repetitious, the film moves at such a breakneck pace we don’t seem to mind.

While the visuals on display are spectacular, the cast provides a human element that makes the film more than just a display of overblown special effects. Cusack, Ejiofor, Peet and Thandie Newton as the president’s daughter all have quiet moments in which they remind us of the tragic cost of any disaster, be it a simple car wreck or a major event.

In the comic relief department, Woody Harrleson, who’s seemingly everywhere this year, pops up as an unhinged believer in conspiracy theories who lives long enough to, regretfully, see one of his beliefs proven right. Oliver Platt also shines as Carl Anheuser, a government official who reminds everyone of the pragmatic concerns of determining who will be chosen to be saved. While it’s hard to agree with him completely, kudos to Emmerich for giving voice to the sort of elitist mindset that would emerge in this situation.

Despite this, in the end, 2012 offers a ray of hope amidst the carnage as it sets out to assure us that in the face of certain doom, we will still recognize the best part of ourselves at zero hour.

Contact Chuck Koplinski at [email protected].